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The skin arises from the outermost of the three embryonic cells layers, the ectoderm. The ectoderm also gives rise to the hair, teeth, and the sense organs of smell, hearing, vision and touch – everything involved in what goes on outside the organism. The nervous system, which has as a principle function informing the organism of what’s going on outside it, is the most important system to which the ectoderm gives rise.

He wrote this in 1971!!!

Still, the full significance of this didn’t really occur to me until I began reading Diane Jacobs’ expansive work on the subject.

To me, Ligature was an especially useful thread but it didn’t cause much of a stir.

From post #11:

Quote:

While our formal education prepared us for examination of the ground (read mesoderm, read concrete) our patients in pain are driven mainly by the clouds in their heads (read ectoderm, read fractal, read chaotic).

Barrett, all education splits its students. Ours especially. It's a completely wrong approach to the problem. I wish I could go back and go through PT training the way it should be organized. The very first class should be one like this: Robert Sapolosky, Human Behavioural Biology. PT is special education, sort of. Special in that its more splitting (Cartesian even) than most. A good grounding in Human Biology would inoculate us against having our minds so split.

I've listened to the whole thing once through now. Time to listen again, more carefully, let it soak in better, take a few notes maybe. So rich/enriching. All PTs whether pre or post grad should rehabilitate ourselves by learning about the HumanAntiGravitySuit's real function as a biopsychosocial entity and force, on itself and on other HAGS's (not just its structure as a stretchy corpse). Once this was understood, then we could learn the bits and larger aggregated parts and put them together in our heads like IKEA furniture, so we could do a "job" at "facilities" of one kind or another. Having something like that at the start would forever weld our profession and all its members to our/its own biological humanity, and make it understand that what it was using for mesodermal operational concepts were only concepts, not weld them onto our innocent open minds as if they were the frickin' truth of the world.

I agree. I was trained to focus on everything but the skin. To work on people as if they had literally been skinned.

Mind you, that's not exactly true. Skin was amply mentioned in the marketing class I had to take. In that context, the " Let's not forget, skin is our most important organ." soundbite was thrown around left and right. But never, never, the neurobiological explanation as to why that is.

"The brain, Shermer argues, is a belief engine. From sensory data flowing in through the senses, the brain naturally begins to look for and find patterns, and then infuses those patterns with meaning. Our brains connect the dots of our world into meaningful patterns that explain why things happen, and these patterns become beliefs. Once beliefs are formed the brain begins to look for and find confirmatory evidence in support of those beliefs, which accelerates the process of reinforcing them, and round and round the process goes in a positive-feedback loop of belief confirmation. Shermer outlines the numerous cognitive tools our brains engage to reinforce our beliefs as truths."

This is true for regliosity (we all "know" that) but it's true for anything else, too! Unfortunately. Unless minds are protected with less special-ized stuff, first.

"motivated cognition refers to the unconscious tendency of individuals to fit their processing of information to conclusions that suit some end or goal... end or goal motivates the cognition in the sense that it directs mental operations... sensory perceptions; in others, assessments of the weight and credibility of empirical evidence, or performance of mathematical or logical computation—that we expect to function independently of that goal or end.... is best understood as a description or characterization of a process and not an explanation in and of itself... can make us stupid, but it is not a consequence of stupidity."

To shift toward an ectodermal perspective we have to use every "trick" at our disposal.

Maybe an aphorism: When you arrive at the skin, you've arrived at the brain.

Maybe an emphasis on the power of taping.

Maybe a deemphasis on mesodermally derived structures.

It seems that when we don't "bow down" to the structures popularized by several giants in the field: Paris' facet, McKenzie's disc and Kendall's muscle, that, by extension, we're not sufficiently honoring them, and therapy culture being what it is, we aren't being very nice.

I was over at Frédéric's this w-e for a seminar with Neil Pearson. It was sooo interesting to watch and listen to the other people in attendance (all PT's).

At one point, during the w-e's last break, I observed as Fred very enthusiastically described to a young woman, how he is learning to incorporate neurobiology and pain science into his practice. I could tell she was struggling, not meeting his gaze, hands in her pockets. This seemed to be a lot for her to process.

Right behind them, on the wall, was the framed photograph of a bridge. I kid you not.

Make a fist. This represents what you know to be true. Make another. This is new information - information you've just received and it makes sense, is defensible and obviates the power held within the first fist.